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G. E. SOMERS.

METALLIC TIP AND COUPLING FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTCRS. No. 284,915;

Patented Sept. .11, 1888.

Witnesses UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. SOMERS, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE BRIDGEPORT BRASS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

METALLIC TIP AND COUPLING FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 284,915, dated September 11, 1883.

Application filed June 8, 1883.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. SoMERs, of Bridgeport,in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Metallic Tips and Couplings for Electrical Conductors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is particularly applicable to telephone cords or conductors; but it may also be embodied in other electrical conductors.

The object of my invention is to provide a tip or coupling which is neat in appearance and can be applied at a small cost, and which will have a good contact with the conductor itself, and will cover and protect the braided covering or other covering or insulating material.

The invention consists in the combination, with a conductor, of a tip or coupling composed of a single piece of metal, having a longitudinal seam or joint, and surrounding the conductor and the insulation or covering adjacent to the tip or coupling.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is an exterior view of one end portion of a conductor and a tip embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal. section of the tip and an exterior view of the conductor. Fig. 3 is a plan of the blank, from which the tip or coupling is formed. Figs. 4 and 5 are re spectively a side view and a section 011 the line to m of the blank bent into U shape, and Fig. 6 is a view of a portion of a conductor and a coupling embodying my invention.

Similar letters of reference designate corre sponding parts in all the figures.

A designates the core of the conductor itself, and B designates the covering material thereof. This covering may be of any mate rial, and it may be composed of or may comprise a braided envelope or fabric.

The tip C comprises portions a Z), of different diameters, the portion a, of smaller diameter, surrounding and in contact with the portion of the conductor A which protrudes beyond the covering B, and the portion b, of larger diameter, surrounding the end portion of the said covering, and thereby protecting it and preventing its abrasion or its unraveling, if made of a braided fabric. In making and applying this tip I first stamp orcut from sheet metal a blank, C, of the form (No model.)

shown in Fig. 3, and, by means of suitable dies, I then bend it into U shape, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the portions a I) being of different widths. I then lay the conductor in this U-shaped blank, and by means of dies bend or close the latter, the portion a being closed onto the conductor A, so as to insure a good contact therewith, and the portion 1) be ing closed around the covering B, so as to protect it. In closing the blank to complete the tip a directly longitudinal seam, c, or a spiral longitudinal seam is formed.

In Fig. 6, I have represented my invention as embodied in couplings. The main wire or conductor, which is to be tapped at any point, is there bared to expose the core or conductor proper, A, and two couplings, C, are applied. These couplings are made and applied in the way before described, and each coupling has a good contact with the core and covers, and protects the insulating material or covering B where it would be liable to abrasion or on raveling. The branch wires 8 8 may be wound around the couplings C, and thus the main conductor is tapped, and its insulation is protected.

This tip or coupling has many advantages. It is neat in appearance, and is formed of a single piece of sheet metal. It may be made and applied at a small cost. A good contact between it and the conductor itself is insured, and .the adjacent portion of the covering, which would be liable to abrasion or to unravel, is effectively protected. As the large portion 6 covers the insulating material, it not only protects the latter, but enables the production of a much neater conductor than if the insulating material ended where the metal tip or coupling begins.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, with an insulated or covered conductor, of atip or coupling composed of a single piece of metal surrounding the conductor, and the insulating or covering material adjacent to the tip or coupling, and having a longitudinal seam or joint, substantially as specified.

' GEO. E. SOMERS. lVitnesses:

H. D. STANLEY, N. M. BEACH. 

